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Question
The Minister outlined that this is a record number of officers in England and Wales. Can he provide further details on the progress made by forces such as Merseyside, South Yorkshire, Northumbria and Cleveland?
Minister reply
While I am pleased with the overall success of recruiting 20,951 additional officers since 2019, there are some variations in how different police forces have managed their recruitment. However, it is important to note that even those regions you mentioned have made significant progress towards increasing officer numbers and many have achieved or surpassed their targets.
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Question
The Minister referred in his statement to the achievements of the Home Secretary, but she is notably absent from this debate. Can he explain why?
Minister reply
The Home Secretary is actively engaged in discussions about policing and has been involved in all aspects of this programme's development. Her absence today may be due to other commitments but her work and contributions towards achieving these goals are well-recognised.
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Question
We have heard a lot about the 20,000 additional officers in terms of numbers. Can you provide further details on the distribution and allocation of these police resources to meet local needs?
Minister reply
The recruitment programme has been designed to ensure that newly recruited officers are allocated based on need across different regions and types of policing roles. This includes a focus on areas with high crime rates or specific challenges, ensuring that communities see tangible benefits from the increased officer numbers.
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Question
The statement referred to record levels of officers and reduced crime, but some reports suggest an increase in serious violent crimes. Can you address these concerns?
Minister reply
While it is true that we have seen reductions in overall crime rates, there are particular challenges with certain types of crime like knife crime and gun crime which require focused attention. The Government remains committed to addressing these issues through targeted initiatives.
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Question
The Home Secretary has been out on the airwaves this morning but she is scared to defend her record in this House... (Full question as provided in the transcript)
Minister reply
First, let me just thank my hon. Friend for his work over a number of years did more than just lay the foundations for this programme: it really got it under way and on the road to success, so I thank him personally for his work... (Full answer as provided in the transcript)
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Question
Can I offer my congratulations to the Minister, the team at the Home Office, the National Police Chiefs’ Council and everybody involved in what has been a massive effort over the last three years to recruit the extra 20,000?... (Full question as provided in the transcript)
Minister reply
First, let me just thank my right hon. Friend, whose work over a number of years did more than just lay the foundations for this programme: it really got it under way and on the road to success, so I thank him personally for his work... (Full answer as provided in the transcript)
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Question
Sir Mark Rowley gave evidence to the Home Affairs Committee this morning. According to the Home Office, the Metropolitan Police Service missed its uplift allocation of 4,557 additional officers by 1,089, missing the target by 23.9%... (Full question as provided in the transcript)
Minister reply
I thank the Select Committee Chair for her question. It is first worth observing that the Metropolitan police have by far the highest per capita funding of any police force in the country... (Full answer as provided in the transcript)
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Question
Welcomes the Government's announcement that we have now reached our 20,000 target for police officers. Emphasises the need for more police on the street to ensure people feel safer in their neighbourhoods.
Minister reply
Agrees with the importance of having more police on the beat and less time spent on unnecessary administration. Highlights efforts to remove burdens from police work, including changes to Home Office counting rules.
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Question
Raises concerns about confidence in the police among women and mentions specific issues such as domestic abuse call handlers, rape and sexual assault units, and training and vetting standards.
Minister reply
Acknowledges efforts to increase female recruitment and improve handling of rape cases. Emphasises ongoing work on national standards for training and vetting.
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Question
Congratulates the Minister on his achievements and asks for an urgent meeting to address funding issues in Lincolnshire, where police community support officers have been cut.
Minister reply
Agrees to meet with John Hayes to discuss updating the police funding formula so that areas like Lincolnshire can receive more appropriate funding.
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Question
Highlights problems of antisocial behaviour in rural areas and criticises the Government for cutting youth services and mental health services during years when police service was reduced.
Minister reply
Refutes claims about cuts, citing ONS figures showing crime reductions since 2010. Acknowledges need to address ASB and agrees on the importance of visible policing.
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Question
Congratulates Kent's police force for its success in reducing crime rates over the past decade.
Minister reply
Agrees with Damian Green, highlighting increases in police numbers and reductions in various types of crime in Kent since 2010.
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Question
Critiques the Government's past policy of cutting police posts and highlights issues such as recorded knife crime, unsolved crimes, and sexual offences.
Minister reply
Disputes figures on local policing numbers and emphasises that current police numbers are higher than any time in history. Mentions mechanisms to retain experienced officers.
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Question
Welcomes the Minister's statement and asks for assurance that Humberside force will continue to focus on antisocial behaviour.
Minister reply
Praises Humberside police force, highlighting their record number of officers. Supports efforts to tackle ASB through recently launched action plan.
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Question
Raises concerns about the vetting process for police recruits, citing issues with senior ranking officers and lack of national standards.
Minister reply
Announces consultation on updated statutory code of practice for vetting standards. Mentions plans to give chief officers more power to dismiss misconduct.
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Question
I warmly welcome today’s statement, and I congratulate my right hon. Friend on the momentous achievement of beating our manifesto commitment three and a half years into the Parliament. Will he confirm that, proportionally, it is even better news for Thames Valley police, whose headcount now stands at 5,034? That is 518 more officers than in 2010—an 11% uplift.
Minister reply
My hon. Friend is right to point to the fantastic police officer numbers in the Thames Valley. He is right that they are about 500 higher than in 2010. That is good news for people across the Thames Valley force area, who will see more police on their streets than under the last Labour Government, more criminals getting caught and more neighbourhoods protected.
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Question
My constituents will be listening and some of this will ring hollow, because their experience in Thames Valley is that 174 crimes go unsolved every single day. Just next door in Gloucestershire, the new Justice Secretary’s backyard, it takes an average of 18.5 hours for the police to respond if they are called. Those are shameful figures. Does the Minister agree that the real litmus test is the day-to-day experiences of our constituents, not the boastful numbers?
Minister reply
The numbers are important; if they had gone down, Opposition Members would be the first to complain. There are around 500 more officers in the Thames Valley force than under the last Labour Government, which is significant. We expect the police to respond to crime quickly, to protect neighbourhoods and to get prosecutions up. That is why we have gone through this enormous recruiting process.
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Question
It is really good news that the Conservatives are delivering the 20,000 officers. The officers will need somewhere to work, so will the Minister ask the Mayor of London to scrap his police station closure plan, so that we can save Barnet police station?
Minister reply
I join my right hon. Friend in calling for the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan to reconsider his unwise plans. As I said, the Metropolitan police has by far the highest per capita funding of any force in the country. I do not think any of us want police stations to close, so I join her in calling on Sadiq Khan to reconsider.
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Question
After years of devastating cuts, any extra police officers are welcome, but it is not just about numbers; it is about quality and experience too. Can the Minister confirm how many new police officers are student officers, not yet qualified, such as the 300 in Bedfordshire? Does he agree that Luton, Bedford and Dunstable are clearly not rural areas? When will the farce of funding Bedfordshire police as a rural force end, so that the police finally have the resources to keep people safe in Luton?
Minister reply
As I am sure the hon. Lady knows, Bedfordshire police has additional support through the police special grant, giving it extra money particularly to fight organised criminality. I corresponded with Bedfordshire’s excellent police and crime commissioner on that topic just recently. I am glad that she raised the question of police officer numbers in Bedford, because Bedfordshire has around 200 extra officers compared with the number under the last Labour Government.
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Question
I congratulate the Minister on delivering more police officers than we promised in our manifesto. There is much to welcome. He points out that crime is at half the level it was in 2010, despite Labour voting 44 times to stop us introducing tougher penalties on violent offenders. I welcome the extra 1,000 officers for Essex and the 83 for Southend. Will he join me in congratulating Roger Hirst, our excellent police and crime commissioner in Essex? Antisocial behaviour is down by 55%, burglary is down by 45% and murder is down by a third. Is it not true that the Conservatives are keeping our streets safer?
Minister reply
Yes, it is. I am delighted to note that Essex has 150 more police officers than under the last Labour Government. The police and crime commissioner Roger Hirst and Chief Constable BJ Harrington are doing a fantastic job reducing crime in Essex. On being tough on crime, I meant to say in response to the shadow Home Secretary that I was shocked in Bill Committee a year or two ago when Labour Members voted against a clause specifically introduced to keep rapists in prison for longer. I think we know who is on the side of victims.
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Question
Merseyside has more than 300 fewer police officers compared with 2010, which has serious implications for the safety of our communities and police morale. A recent survey of police officers on Merseyside, carried out by the Police Federation of England and Wales, found that 17% of respondents intended to resign from the police service either within the next two years or as soon as they can. What steps will the Minister take to improve the morale of police officers, boost retention and boost the numbers on Merseyside?
Minister reply
I pay tribute to Chief Constable Serena Kennedy, who leads the Merseyside force. I was up in Merseyside and Liverpool just a few weeks ago meeting officers. The target of the police recruitment programme in Merseyside was to recruit an extra 665 officers; in fact, 724 have been recruited.
In terms of people leaving the police, we have surveyed thousands of police officers recently recruited through the uplift programme. About 80% are very satisfied with the job and a similar proportion intend to make policing their long-term career. In terms of supporting and looking after police officers, I chair the police covenant wellbeing board. I have not got time to list all the initiatives now, but we are doing a number of things to ensure that serving and former officers get looked after and that morale is maintained.
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Question
Having 20,000 more officers across the country is a fantastic achievement. It is a Conservative promise made and delivered that will help crack down antisocial behaviour in Cleveland, drawing on our new antisocial behaviour strategy. Does my right hon. Friend agree with me that cracking down on problem areas, such as the Norfolk shops in Berwick Hills, is exactly the activity that more officers will enable us to deliver?
Minister reply
I agree completely with my right hon. Friend. That is exactly the kind of thing those officers will do. Cleveland had a target of 239 extra officers to recruit. They beat that target and have recruited an extra 267 since 2019, and I am sure those 267 new officers will be on patrol in exactly the place my right hon. Friend would like to see them.
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Question
My constituents feel under siege from drug dealers, antisocial behaviour and online fraudsters. They will feel insulted by the Minister’s attempt to whitewash this Government’s record. Why did he destroy neighbourhood policing, and why does he ignore fraud, which represents 40% of crime but gets virtually no policing resources?
Minister reply
As I have said, the Metropolitan police have record numbers; they are up to 35,411. They have never in their history had more officers. Had the Mayor of London used all the funding available, they would have about 1,000 more, so perhaps that is a question the hon. Gentleman might like to take up with Sadiq Khan.
We want to see more action on antisocial behaviour; that is a fair comment. That is why we have launched the antisocial behaviour action plan. Fraud is another important area, and an updated fraud action plan will be delivered by the Home Secretary and the Minister for Security very shortly.
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Question
I wholeheartedly welcome the Minister’s announcement about the extra 20,000 police officers. That will benefit the people of Broxtowe, which currently has a significant problem with antisocial behaviour in Beeston and Chilwell. Will he comment on the military service leavers pathway into policing course, first set up in Nottinghamshire by the police and crime commissioner and chief constable, so that ex-military personnel, with similar values to police officers of sense of duty, teamwork and public service, will increase those numbers still?
Minister reply
I congratulate the excellent police and crime commissioner in Nottinghamshire, Caroline Henry, who beat the police uplift target, delivering an extra 418 officers instead of the target of 357. If only Sadiq Khan had done the same in London.
I strongly commend the programme that has been pioneered in Nottinghamshire to get people leaving the military to come into policing. Just yesterday evening I was discussing with colleagues at the National Police Chiefs’ Council and the Home Office getting that model rolled out across the whole country, which we should urgently work on doing.
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Question
The announcement rings hollow for our constituents and serving police officers alike. I recently met with police officers at Honiton police station and it was plain that they receive way more priority calls than they have officers to deal with them. Earlier this month, we discovered that over 45,000 burglaries reported last year went unattended in England and Wales. Will the Minister get behind a Liberal Democrat Bill to create a statutory duty on police officers and police forces to attend and properly investigate every domestic burglary?
Minister reply
I congratulate the excellent police and crime commissioner for Devon and Cornwall, Alison Hernandez, for delivering record officer numbers. There are 3,716 police officers in Devon and Cornwall, which is nearly 100 more than there were in March 2010.
In relation to domestic burglaries, I am afraid the Liberal Democrat party is a little behind the curve, because last autumn the Home Secretary launched an initiative to ensure every residential burglary got a police visit, which is something I am sure everyone in the House would support.
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Question
I and my constituents also welcome the uplift to over 3,500 officers in the Devon and Cornwall police area that the Minister just mentioned. I also welcome what the Minister said about investing in police forces. I draw the House’s attention to the fact that in the south-west we have five hard-working Conservative PCCs, who already have a voluntary vetting service between their five forces, so that is starting to work. Will the Minister meet with me and our excellent police and crime commissioner, Alison Hernandez, to talk about the summer funding that Cornwall and Devon so desperately need? We welcome more visitors to our area than any other part of the country, except London, and we need extra funding to help deal with the additional antisocial behaviour we see every year.
Minister reply
I am aware of the financial and policing pressures that summer tourism creates in places such as Devon and Cornwall, the Lake district, Dorset and many other parts of the country. We plan to address that in the new police funding formula, which we intend to consult on. In the meantime, I would be delighted to meet with my hon. Friend and the fantastic police and crime commissioner for Devon and Cornwall, Alison Hernandez.
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Question
Diolch yn fawro, Mr Speaker. One of the unintended consequences of the programme is that police forces have to reduce backroom police staff because of financial penalties they receive if they do not increase officer numbers, leaving officers undertaking non-public-facing roles. As 50% of funding for Dyfed-Powys police now comes from the precept, should the PCC and chief constable not have a greater role in determining the workforce mix? For how long will the Home Office maintain financial penalties?
Minister reply
Chief constables and police and crime commissioners can decide budget allocations. Every Welsh force has record officer numbers and more than in 2010.
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Question
Congratulating the Minister on extra officers in north Wales, would he agree that it is vital to combat antisocial behaviour? Will he comment on work to streamline paperwork?
Minister reply
Yes, North Wales police has 105 extra officers. We are working with DHSC and changing Home Office accounting laws to reduce bureaucratic burdens.
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Question
Thanking the Minister for his statement on recruitment, would he discuss discussions with PSNI about officer safety in Northern Ireland?
Minister reply
Dialogue exists with the PSNI. Officer safety is a concern; we have discussions and ensure resources are available.
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Question
As a former criminal defence solicitor, referring to inefficiencies caused by Labour's decision to move charging from the police to CPS, will my right hon. Friend return full charging powers to the police?
Minister reply
We discuss this topic regularly with A-G’s Office and DPP; we welcome a meeting to further explore how to reduce bureaucratic burdens.
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Question
Welcoming Government's achievement of record officer numbers in England and Wales, will the Minister join me in paying tribute to Katy Bourne for exceeding uplift targets in Sussex?
Minister reply
I thank my hon. Friend for his work; Katy Bourne does a fantastic job and exceeded her police uplift target.
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Question
Welcoming the Government’s fulfillment of their manifesto pledge, does the Minister share frustration that Labour has voted against tough sentencing measures?
Minister reply
I concur entirely; it is striking that Labour consistently votes against tougher sentences.
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Question
Welcoming the extra police officers, does the Minister agree Suffolk police should properly investigate theft cases reported?
Minister reply
Yes, Suffolk has more officers than in 2010; they must follow up on all actionable evidence.
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Question
Welcoming the news of extra police officers, does my right hon. Friend agree a new community base will allow more visible policing in Stockton?
Minister reply
An excellent initiative to ensure police are based locally; we urge MPs to seek such opportunities.
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Question
Congratulating Katy Bourne and Jo Shiner for their work in Sussex, would the Minister join me in congratulating them?
Minister reply
Police and crime commissioner Katy Bourne and Chief Constable Jo Shiner have done a fantastic job.